Thursday, 24 November 2011

Spent Last Saturday in London browsing the art ceramics collection at the V&A and was particularly inspired by the work of potters such as Susie Cooper and Jessie Tait as well as the wonderful designs of Eric Ravilious.
I also viewed the current Power of Making Exhibition which explores and celebrates the place of craft in modern life. The displays include traditional and contemporary techniques and there are some lovely textile and embroidery pieces.

Monday, 15 August 2011

Spent a whole day yesterday gazing in awe at the amazing talent on display at the NEC. Fabulous art quilts, beautifully executed traditional quilting and sewing, and gorgeous colours. Not to mention all the fabric, threads, dyes, block prints, equipment and demonstrations. It was great to meet such inspirational and generous people like Maggie Grey, Jamie Maldon of Colouricious and Ineke Berlyn, and Ruth Issett, to mention but a few folk who give of their time and knowledge so freely. A truly inspiring day!
For details of next year's Festival see here

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Just spent a couple of days in York, mainly to attend an event at the Early Music Festival: an evening of choral music by Harry Christophers The Sixteen at York Minster. Truly awe inspiring voices to listen to in a cathedral setting.

I took the opportunity to visit the Quilt Museum in the afternoon to see the current Celebrations exhibition as well as Made in Yorkshire, a display of textile work by local artists and embroiderers. All the quilts in the exhibition celebrated one of life's significant events, a birth, marriage, anniversary or public event. Wedding dresses, cot coverlets, slippers and bags as well as more traditional quilts are just some of the beautiful works on display. The quilt pictured here was made to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria by Ellen Mathilda Lacey, possibly for her bottom drawer as she married Herman Korf in 1890.

Saturday, 9 July 2011

Lovely day last Saturday at the Manchester Embroiderer's Guild. We spent the morning embellishing black and white batik fabric with stitching and beads, and the afternoon being inspired by the fabulous textile art of Angie Hughes. For more information about Angie Hughe's work and details of talks and workshops, see http://www.angiehughes.com/

Monday, 30 May 2011

Just returned from a very rainy week in the Lake District. Apart from the stunnning scenery, the most memorable and inspiring part of the holiday was the Quaker Tapestry Exhibition at Kendal. While all 77 of the panels were amazing in both their subject matter and their technical execution, I was particulary taken with the title panel, The Prism, a real visual treat in terms of colour and design. For its sheer poignancy, I loved Panel E6 Elizabeth Fry and the Patchwork Quilts. Visiting the convict ships in the first half of the 19th century, Elizabeth Fry gave each woman prisoner a bag filled with everything needed to make a patchwork quilt, both to help them to endure the tedium of the journey and to show of their sewing skills on arrival in Australia. For more information about the Exhibition see http://www.quaker-tapestry.co.uk/